dingy little mirrors of talc from Cacongo, set in clumsy frames of ruddled wood.  Masses of coral encircled his neck, and the full-dress naval uniform of a French officer, with epaulettes of stupendous size, exposed a zebra’d guernsey of equivocal purity.  A long black staff, studded with broad-headed brass beads, served to clear the room of the lieges, who returned as fast as they were turned out—­the baton was evidently not intended to be used seriously.

But the Manbuku Prata is not a mere “Punch in a puppet show.”  His face expresses more intelligence and resolution than usual, and his Portuguese is not the vile article of the common trader.  He means business.  When other chiefs send their “sons,” that is their slaves, to fight, he leads them in person—­venite, non ite.  The French “Emigration Libre” put 30,000 dollars into his pocket, and he still hopes against hope to ship many a cargo for the Banana factory.  He has some 300 armed serviles at Chinimi and Lamba, two villages perched like condors’ nests upon hills commanding the river’s northern bank, and, despite the present dearth of “business,” he still owns some 100,000 francs in cloth and beads, rum and gunpowder.

As the “Silver Minister” took his seat upon the ground before the king, all removed their caps with a simultaneous grunt and performed the “Sakila” or batta-palmas; this hand-clapping must be repeated whenever the simplest action is begun or ended by king or chief.  Monteiro and Gamitto (pp. 101 et seg.) refer to the practice everywhere on the line of country which they visited:  there it seems to be even a more ceremonious affair than in the Congo.  The claps were successively less till they were hardly audible; after a pause five or six were given, and the last two or three were in hurried time, the while without pronouncing a word.  The palaver now opened steadily with a drink:  a bottle of trade “fizz” was produced for the white man, and rum for his black congeners; then the compliment of healths went all round.  After this we fell to work at business.  By dint of abundant wrangling and with an immense display of suspicion, natural under the circumstances, it was arranged that the king should forward me in a couple of his own canoes to Banza Nokki, the end of river navigation, as we were told, and falsely told; in my turn I was to pay goods valued about L6, at least three times the usual tariff.  They consisted of fourteen red caps, as many “sashes,” and fifty-two fathoms of cloth for the crew; ten Pecas de lei or Chiloes for each interpreter, and two pieces for the canoes.  I should have given four fathoms for each man and the same for each boat.  The final scene was most gratifying to the African mind:  I solemnly invested old Nessala with the grand cloak which covered his other finery; grinning in the ecstasy of vanity, he allowed his subjects to turn him round and round, as one would a lay figure, yet with profound respect, and, lastly, he retired to charm his wives.